My Maternal Aunt's Centenary Birthday

My mother had two elder sisters. We called both our maternal aunts 'perima' as both were elder to our mother.

We used to prefix their names and called mother's eldest sister as 'school perima' because she was a school teacher by profession and another elder sister as 'aaspatri perima' because she was the head matron at the Government Hospital, Secunderabad. Aaspatri in Tamil means hospital.

It is school perima's birthday today (9th September).
School perima was very close to our family as she was to other relatives. She had married and was childless. She had to leave her matrimonial home due to some unavoidable circumstances. She was educated up to 10th Standard in those days.

My grandfather was a visionary even in the late 1920s. He wished to see his daughters financially independent and did everything possible to make them so.

He took my school perima to Benares to educate her further. She passed some exams in Hindi from the Benares University and joined as a teacher in the Keyes Girls' High School, Secunderabad. She worked for a record 3 and odd decades until she retired. She was a very dedicated teacher. She used to take special classes for the weaker students during lunch hours so that they could somehow pass their exams and these classes were for free.

Her methods of teaching arithmatic was quite unique in those days. She would bring leaves, twigs, burnt match sticks, dry tamarind seeds into the class room to teach students addition, division, fractions, subtraction by actual demonstrations.

Apart from all this she was a kind and humble human being. It was rare for her to say negative things about others. She would mention any positive trait even of the people who used to criticize her relentlessly. She was our own Mother Theresa.

After her retirement, she settled down with my eldest sister's family at Kalpakkam to help looking after my sister's young children while my sister pursued her career actively as an engineer. Hers was a selfless act. No conditions were attached to any help that she offered others. She would account for every single paisa and never kept anything for herself when entrusted with money for household expenses. She got her pension and had that rare self-pride in not touching other's money for whatever reason. On the other hand she used to help others with her money.

I could go on and on about her life of sacrifice for all our families. So many incidents of sacrifice come to my mind that I could write a whole book on her life. She has earned our love and respect for eternity and occupies a very, very special place in our hearts. We salute her and always remember her each day for something or the other.

This is her centenary birth year. She died at a ripe old age 87 years. A life well lived for herself as well as in the service of others.

Perima, wherever you are, you still lead us on the right path to this day. You were a living example of the joy we get in helping others unconditionally.

May your soul continue to guide and bless us.

Mahalakshmi.

The Bachelors and The Cook

My maid servant is regular, does her work, informs me in advance if she is to take leave, (never does any extra work :( even if I am ready to pay her extra), never expects tea, coffee or food from me. In appreciation of most of the above I give her additional amounts from time to time on festivals, besides the Diwali bonus, I give her an allowance for her kids at school re-opening time. She seems happy about this arrangement and so am I.

To supplement her income, she has now taken up an additional job of cooking and cleaning for 3 bachelors who live down the lane.

Out of interest I asked her whether she liked her new job.
She said she was very happy and soon I found out the reason for her happiness.
Seems she used to cook for them last year but left it after a month of trial and error.
Then these guys were struggling with an elderly woman who used to cook and make off with things from the kitchen often. One of them approached her yet again to take on the mantle. Though she was a bit hesitant she accepted the challenge and is settling down to the job quite well.
She was afraid of so many things - her cooking may not be good, no word of either appreciation or criticism from these guys.
In time, the guys taught her how to cook items like sambar, dal and rice.
She sticks on to this job because of a single factor.
She said, the moment she finishes her cooking, the guys come with their plates, load the food and junk the vessels for her to clean. The fact that there's not a single grain of rice nor a drop of sambar makes her happy that the food is all gone within minutes of its getting ready.
I knew that it was more important for her to see the food vanish than to hear praises about it.
The salary is for her work.
I am sure she will better her cooking skills with each passing day.

The satisfaction and enjoying of one's work can never be measured in terms of money or salary.
It is this that motivates us to do better.
Appreciation for good work is rare to come by and when it does come, it is a bonus, nevertheless, we carry on at our skills as we do with our living.

Cheers.
Mahalakshmi